Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $71.44 and last traded at $72.6290, with a volume of 222215 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on COHU shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research raised Cohu from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Cohu in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cohu presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.33.

Cohu Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.55. The company has a current ratio of 6.43, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -60.13 and a beta of 1.62.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.14 million. Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.50% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cohu

In other Cohu news, CFO Jeffrey D. Jones sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $608,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 343,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,103,217.28. This represents a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director William Bendush sold 7,500 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total value of $368,550.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,217,689.20. This represents a 23.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 90,668 shares of company stock valued at $4,248,016 in the last quarter. 3.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COHU. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Cohu in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cohu by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Cohu during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cohu during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Cohu by 202.7% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Cohu Company Profile

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.